Reflective lens with reflective sheeting

Inactive Publication Date: 2011-06-23
TEKNOTRAFFIC
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0004]A road marker assembly mounted to a road enabling a driver to better see road divisions, the road marker assembly comprising a lens having a rear surface, a shell having an outer surface, the lens mounted on the outer surface of the shell, and a reflective or retroreflective sheeting layer disposed between the rear surface of the lens and the outer surface of the shell thereby allowing light entering the lens from vehicle headlights to reflect efficiently near back to the originating light emitted from the vehicle headlights. The outer surface of the shell includes a recess adapted to accept the lens, wherein the lens sits within the recess of the outer surface of the shell. The reflective layer lines the recess and is disposed between the lens and the recess of the outer surface of the shell.

Problems solved by technology

However, such lenses are expensive to produce.
The plating process is time consuming, and it is difficult to control the quality of the plating process.

Method used

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  • Reflective lens with reflective sheeting
  • Reflective lens with reflective sheeting
  • Reflective lens with reflective sheeting

Examples

Experimental program
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Embodiment Construction

[0011]A novel lens arrangement for reflective articles such as road markers is disclosed. The lens 12 has a planar outer surface 22 and one or more inner surfaces (24, 26) which are covered with a retroreflective or simply reflective sheeting material 30 The lens 12 has a planar outer surface 22 and one or more inner surfaces (24, 26) which are covered with the sheeting material 30. The outer surface 22 and rear surfaces 24, 26 are angled with respect to each other to form a prism and provide a desired angle of incidence on the sheeting 30. Let it be understood that the sheeting 30 may have either reflective or retroreflective characteristics, this description should not serve to limit claim coverage to either reflective or retroreflective characteristics. This description should clearly serve to cover both use of a reflective or retroflective sheeting 30.

[0012]The road marker 10 has lenses 12 with inner surfaces covered with the sheeting 30 and a shell 16 having a longitudinal trap...

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Abstract

A retroreflector or simple reflector assembly mounted to a road, the assembly comprising a lens having a rear surface, a shell having an outer surface, the lens mounted on the outer surface of the shell, and a reflective or retroreflective sheeting disposed between the rear surface of the lens and the outer surface of the shell thereby allowing light entering the lens from vehicle headlights to reflect efficiently back to the driver of an automotive vehicle where light is emitted from the vehicle headlights. The outer surface of the shell includes a recess adapted to accept the lens, wherein the lens sits within the recess of the outer surface of the shell. The sheeting lines the recess and is disposed between the lens and the recess of the outer surface of the shell.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61 / 288,687 filed Dec. 21, 2009, which is incorporated herein by referenceFIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The invention relates generally to road markers. In particular, the invention relates to a road marker having a increased reflective or retroreflective characteristics due to reflective sheeting behind a lens mounted on the road marker.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]It is known to make lenses for use in items such as reflective or retroreflective road markers which have flat surfaces on one side of the lens and a plurality of shapes such as cube corners on the opposite side. Cube corners are typically plated with vacuum depositions of aluminum or another material having high reflective properties in order to perform specular reflection to provide good reflectivity. It is also known to use a glass sheet in the front of the front surface of the lens to protect...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): G02B5/124
CPCG02B5/124E01F9/06E01F9/553
InventorAMAYA, DAMIANCRUZ, YADHIRA
OwnerTEKNOTRAFFIC